


A Solid Partnership

by ralf



Series: Close to Canon [8]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Closeted Character, Communication, Episode: s01e08 Bad Blood, Gen, Lydia Branwell & Alec Lightwood Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22736980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralf/pseuds/ralf
Summary: “Lydia Branwell. Will you marry me, Alec Lightwood?”After John's death she was sure she'd never feel inclined to remarry but the alliance Alec proposes is reasonable. Between his decent reputation and her position with the Clave they should be able to secure the Institute. And shelikesAlec. He's sensible, professional, honorable.Logically it's an easy choice to make but watching Alec kneeling at her feet, remnants of his smile still lingering while he waits for her answer that will decide the rest of his life she finds herself hesitating.“Are you sure about this?” she asks.[Set during the proposal in 1x08 and continues the scene.]
Relationships: Lydia Branwell & Alec Lightwood, Lydia Branwell/John Monteverde, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Close to Canon [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/936036
Comments: 17
Kudos: 88





	A Solid Partnership

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the [proposal scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_nlwMi7088) if you feel like rewatching ;)
> 
> Also!!! To anyone who's subscribed to this series and not to me as an author, I messed up while posting the last addition to the series so there was no notification email. If you wanna catch up on it, it was [this one](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22115269).

Lydia leaves through the preliminary autopsy findings. Maryse took her sweet time handing the file over, and if Lydia hadn't already known the result was negative she wouldn't have let Maryse keep it for so long.

The report itself details the different tests Magnus applied to the Forsaken corpse and is of little interest in the grand scheme of things which means Maryse only kept it to appease her bruised pride. Lydia gets it, but it doesn't change the fact that this pettiness is misplaced. She's just doing her job. It's tiring to always be met with dismissal and animosity when they're all on the same side.

As if summoned by her thoughts Alec enters her office. “Lydia, do you have a minute?”

He's agitated, pacing through the room with an energy that doesn't fit his usually stoic demeanor.

She sighs, putting the report away. “Alec, I'm sorry about your parents but my hands were tied.”

She's not sorry about the decision itself because it clearly was the right call – Maryse and Robert haven't been able to protect their Institute against Valentine's attacks, let alone New York – but she is sorry Alec had to witness their fall from grace and find out about their past the way he did.

“No, I know.” There's no anger in his voice, his eyes open where they were hard before when he handed the report to his mother in a defiant show of protest. “The law is hard but it's the law, and I respect that.”

She believes him. He didn't strike her as the resentful type. Where his sister and mother kept shooting her hostile glances he's been nothing but polite to her, working alongside her without reservations. It's nice to know she's not the only one here who can see the bigger picture.

“But I've realized that...” He hesitates, gaze flickering away for a moment. “I have to listen to my heart.”

This gives Lydia pause. She has a vague inkling where this is going and she wonders why Alec came to her with this matter. It seems like something he should discuss with his siblings and not her, but then, maybe they don't know about their parents' past yet.

She understands where Alec is coming from. If even half the rumors she heard in Idris are true Maryse has done her all to raise him to be the perfect Shadowhunter who never strays from the path her expectations dictated. After learning their history Alec might feel less inclined to put his wishes last.

If the way he talked about Magnus in the morgue hadn't already given him away, the familiar way he talked _to_ Magnus in the training area certainly would have. Lydia saw them and the pieces fell into place why marriage was “not even close” to being Alec's idea.

And while she understands more than anyone that fighting to be with the one your heart desires is a temptation hard to resist she can't help but think how that worked out for her.

She chuckles sadly. “Let's not forget where that got me.”

“I know.” Alec takes a couple steps towards her. “And I can't bring John back.”

The name hits Lydia like a sucker punch. Thinking of John still hurts, and she believes it always will. Confusion mixes with the ache in her chest because she has no idea what her late husband has to do with the affairs of Alec's heart. Maybe she was wrong about what he wanted to discuss with her after all.

“But, like you said our families have been strong allies. And we can use that to our advantage. Together, we can restore my family name and we can keep the Institute.”

She still doesn't understand that segue but she sees all too clearly what Alec is getting at. “And we'd get to run it?” It sounds too good to be true.

Alec smiles, the first genuine smile she's seen from him today.

The prospect of running an Institute... it's everything she's worked for for so long, and what she'd long since given up on ever having. The day John was killed she didn't just lose her husband but her future as well. The thought that she might get even just a part of her old dream back...

Lydia smiles back at Alec, eager to know what he has in mind that'll allow them to keep this Institute, but it slides right off her face when Alec gets down on one knee. She backs up against the desk she was leaning on, shock coiling low in her gut when she realizes _what_ Alec's plan is.

“Lydia Branwell. Will you marry me, Alec Lightwood?”

Now it makes sense why he mentioned John, she thinks faintly. For a moment a memory overlays her gloomy office and all she sees is the vibrant green of the meadow where John proposed to her, the joy in his eyes when she said yes, the love runes they carved into each other's shoulders right then and there.

She blinks back to the present. Dwelling on the past has never done anyone any favors.

After John's death she was sure she'd never feel inclined to remarry but the alliance Alec proposes is reasonable. Between his decent reputation and her position with the Clave they should be able to secure the Institute. And she _likes_ Alec. He's sensible, professional, honorable.

Logically it's an easy choice to make but watching Alec kneeling at her feet, remnants of his smile still lingering while he waits for her answer that will decide the rest of his life she finds herself hesitating.

“Are you sure about this?” she asks.

Alec shifts a bit, his gaze intent. “Yes. We might've only known each other for a day but I saw the way you operate and I admire your work ethics.”

“I'm not worried about _that_ ,” Lydia clarifies. “I'm sure with time we can build a solid partnership. But you told me earlier that getting married was never your plan and.. there's a reason for that.”

Alec goes very still. “I don't know what you mean,” he says, with no inflection whatsoever.

Lydia is sure that he knows exactly what she means. She understands why he wouldn't want to address it but if they can't be honest with each other this whole thing is pointless so she presses on. “I had my shot at happiness and messed up, and that's on me. But are you really willing to cut yourself off from even a chance at it for the rest of your life? I don't want you to make a rash decision you might come to regret.”

The Clave might never recognize a connection like that but they do turn blind eyes to anything that can go ignored. If she and Alec got married though, him pursuing a relationship outside of that marriage would defeat the purpose of it and he has to be aware of that.

Alec has gone starkly pale. “I- I don't--” His breathing picks up and he's swaying in place. A glimmer of fear flares up in his eyes. “You can't know--”

Lydia's heart aches. She never meant to hurt him. “Alec, it's okay.”

He shakes his head, hunching in on himself and she sees the edges of panic drawing closer around him. She cups his cheek in a hand but he won't face her, his gaze flickering away. “Hey, Alec. It's alright. It doesn't matter.”

With a hand on his arm she encourages him to stand so he can breathe a little easier. He still looks like he might fall over and it's disconcerting to see him like this. He towers over her with how tall he is, but in this moment he seems as fragile as a piece of glass. It's a painful sight.

She rubs his arm soothingly, hoping it will instill some calm in him. “It's alright, Alec.”

~ ~ ~

His shock melts away slowly with every exhale. What remains is the nagging question how Lydia could possibly know. She's only been here for a _day_. He thought his secret was hidden but it seems he was wrong. It feels like everything is unraveling around him, spiraling out of control.

He takes a slow deliberate breath and forces himself to focus. He'll clean things up, one mess at a time, because that's what he always does.

Despite the churning in his stomach he makes himself face Lydia, and is taken aback. There's nothing but worry in her eyes, a genuine concern he's not used to seeing on anyone but his siblings. He belatedly realizes that her hand is still on his cheek, warm and comforting. The touch reminds him of how his mother used to console him when he was little. It's startling, but grounding in a way he'd almost forgotten.

“You okay?” she finally asks.

He nods and is surprised to find it's true. He's still a bit unsteady but he feels mostly alright.

Lydia lets go of him with one last squeeze to his arm. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spring this on you.” She watches him intently and it becomes clear that despite her apology she's still expecting an answer.

Alec steels himself. She's right. They need to be honest with each other if this is going to work. “I... this has never been an option for me and it never will be.”

A shadow of sadness flashes across her face but it's gone in an instant and she nods. “I respect your decision.”

 _Respect_. The word rattles him deeply. Lydia values the law and tradition in a way Jace and Izzy never have and still she watches him with unchanged regard. Even though his shameful secret is out in the open now.

“You don't think less of me?” The question slips out before he can stop it.

“Of course not,” Lydia replies immediately.

Alec sees nothing but truth in her eyes.

“I've admired your courage and determination from the moment I got here and I still do. Nothing's changed.”

To think that he'd get to be married and live without fear of being found out. To someone who won't demand anything of him he's unwilling to give but would have to offer up anyway. To someone he can trust completely, with no lies between them.

It's more than he ever dared to hope for.

“So.” Lydia tilts her head. “Do you still want to do this?”

Alec nods wordlessly.

“Then, yes,” she says, smiling softly at him. “I'd be honored to accept your proposal.”

**Author's Note:**

> My reasons for writing this fic were  
> a) I always thought the way Lydia cups Alec's cheek during the wedding scene looked too familiar for it to have been the first time she did that.  
> b) Lydia's face at the end of the proposal scene doesn't look like she's gonna say Yes.  
> c) Political marriages are probably not uncommon among Shadowhunters. Alec must have been aware that maybe Lydia thought their alliance could grow into a love marriage with time, and I don't think he would have felt it was fair if everything hadn't been out in the open before they got ready to marry. I wanted them to have this conversation but since he was in no place to actually come out to Lydia this was my compromise.  
> Being able to sneak in the fact that Lydia has a love rune on her left shoulder blade was a nice extra (even though I just made myself sad with that T__T)
> 
> Please let me know what you think :D


End file.
